1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns safety systems for operating automobiles and, more particularly, to such a system that detects the presence of a person in a closed trunk and releases the person under safe operational conditions.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been well publicized reports of young children inadvertently locking themselves in the trunk of a vehicle, such as an automobile. Tragically, children can die under such circumstances, typically as a result of heat prostration while trapped in the sealed trunk.
It has been suggested that a trapped person could actuate an inside release mechanism to open the trunk. However, it is not certain that a young child would understand how to operate such a mechanism and it is therefore possible that the child would not be able to free himself by this means. There is therefore a need for a system that detects the presence of a person, particularly a small child, within a trunk and signals the need to open the trunk. It would also be advantageous for such a system to automatically trigger a trunk to open and release the trapped person when it is safe to do so, for example when the vehicle is stopped.
There is therefore a great need for an automatic trunk safety system. The apparatus and system of the invention has been developed to meet this need with simple, relatively low cost and reliable components that are easily integrated with the electronic control systems of existing vehicles. The above-mentioned features and other features of the invention will become apparent from a review of the following drawings, specification and claims.